Hotel Rwanda

[Nick M]

Rented it.

Absolutely spectacular from beginning to end. Story was very involving and had me on the edge of my seat. It wasn't a gore fest either meant to shock. Very well done. Another one up there with the other stars of 2004, definetly top 3. The extras has a trip to Rwandan memorial sites along with the people the film's characters were based on.

:4: out of :5:

I went out and bought it 15min after watching it.
Highly recommended.

[David Meek]

Glad to hear this is a good one! I'm a fan of Don Cheadle to begin with. . . :T

[Foxman]

Glad to hear this is a good one! I'm a fan of Don Cheadle to begin with. . . :T

Yeah me too. We loved Picket Fences and wish they would release that on DVD. Glad to hear Rowanda was a good movie, I thought it was so I picked it up yesterday, but we watched Closer last night instead.

[Azeke]

Glad to hear this is a good one! I'm a fan of Don Cheadle to begin with. . . :T

I am as well, every since the movie Volcano.

Regards,

Azeke

[George Bellefontaine]

Looking forward to screening this one.

[George Bellefontaine]

Hotel Rwanda

Man, this was one powerful film. Basically it is about a black African hotel manager, played by Don Cheadle, who helps save hundreds of lives . Thousands of men, women and children were slaughtered in an act of genocide because they belonged to the wrong tribe, but the fact that this compassionate hotel manager risked not only his own life, but the life of his family ( his wife belonged to that wrong tribe) and saved 1200 lives, left me thinking there may be hope for the human race after all.

This is a movie that should and must be seen by anyone who cares about the human condition. What happened in this film is still happening today in other parts of the world. They call it ethnic cleansing and it is an utter disgrace.

Sorry for the rant, but what happened in this film just angered me, as I am sure it will you.

BTW, Cheadle is really becoming one terrific actor. Also stars Nick Nolte as a UN peacekeeper. Don't know who played Cheadle's wife, but she did a terrific job as well. Excellent PQ and sound pops at times.

:45:

[Nick M]

http://htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13233

:B

[George Bellefontaine]

Thanks, Nick. Forgot about that thread. The ol' memory ain't what it used to be. :lol:

[Burke Strickland]

George, the good news is, that thread hasn't been active for over two weeks, so who could remember that? However the bad news is, you were the last one to participate, so how could you forget that? :>)

Because of the raves about how good it is, (and a reasonable price at a local store), even with its apparently hard-to-take content, I bought the DVD without having seen the movie in a commercial theater. I don't mean to make light of a serious subject, but with spec money on it now, you guys had better be right. :>) So whichever thread about it is active after I watch it this coming weekend, I'll toss in my inflation-adjusted 1.237 cents about it.

Burke

[David Meek]

We sit in inflation-adjusted anticipation of your review sir. :B

[George Bellefontaine]

We do indeed, Burke, but I know you won't be disappointed. Just not sure of the rewatchability thingy.

[Burke Strickland]

Hotel Rwanda is gut-wrenchingly powerful and memorable (painfully so), with excellent production values and outstanding performances. Seems like it was almost overlooked in the movie boxoffice and awards sweepstakes despite its high quality and important topic -- "Hotel Rwanda" is the African "Schindler's List".

However, in this case, the hero is a quiet, unassuming fellow who just wants to do a good job and maintain his company's standards through increasingly difficult times of political unrest and material shortages, and in doing so, lays the groundwork giving him the means to save 1200 people in the midst of civil-war carnage that slaughters one million people while the "world leaders" argue over the definition of "genocide" instead of moving forcefully to stop it.

Although the hotel manager's heroism does give one a slight glimmer of hope for humanity, the events that surrounded him could be justification for despair. His bravery was necessary to save his family and others, and notable because it seems no one else was facing up to the madness.

As the story unfolded, the sickening turns of events kept getting worse and worse and he just kept getting more and more resourceful, in completely believable ways, under unbelievable (but historically true) circumstances. I was really not looking forward to what seemed to be an inevitably tragic end and yet seeing him and his fanily reunited with the two little girls at the end and the way they instantly "adopted" their new little friends from the refugee camp was both uplifting and unsettling -- realizing that the girls' parents were undoubtedly victims of the slaughter and realizing that many kids would never be reunited with the people who had loved them.

In many ways, "Hotel Rwanda" is the most effective movie I've seen in several years, and yet, as others have observed, it is not a road I want to travel often speaking of which, that bumpy ride in the fog, only to reveal the source of the bumpiness, is one of cinema's most shocking scenes and a masterful example of effective movie making -- much more emotional impact than if we had seen a Mel Gibson-style grisly machete swinging battle scene yielding the road littered with corpses and then followed by the jeep ride. It will be a while before I am ready to appreciate the craft of this movie again by watching it. Yet it would take even longer to forget its strong images and powerful message.

I don't "award" stars to movies. Even if I did, there might not be enough to fit on the page for this one. You probably don't want to watch it if your world is caving in and you need a light-hearted break from reality (although this film could be a good lesson in how to cope in adverse circumstances) but it is one that everyone with a soul and conscience who also enjoys a finely crafted film should make a point of watching sometime. I'm not saying you'll "enjoy" this one, but you will be glad you experienced this movie.

Burke

[Kevin P]

I merged the two Hotel Rwanda threads into one.

[Kemp]

I am glad there is some people who take the effort in bringing stories like this to the world. It is heart breaking what happens in some of the African countries. The problem is that still today it is happening. Look at Zimbabwe. I don't think there is a lot of people who understand what these people go through their whole life. We are quite lucky here in SA to have overcome the problems we had. The problem now is that a lot of people fleeing these countries are entering SA illegally which puts a lot of strain on employment for locals.

Part of the film was filmed here in South Africa with most of the support cast from here.

The next one is "Biko" starring Denzel Washington which is another local story dealing with the one big problem we had.

[autio]

biko ---loved that song a Peter Gabriel B-Side on a forty-five my dad owned when I was in high School used to love cranking that on uup on the old allison three's -- brings back memories Oh and that song made me do a little research into who biko was they didnt teach us that in current events .

[Foxman]

The Wife and I watched this last night finaly. I really like Cheadle since his days as a lawyer in the series Pickett Fences. He has really become a fabulous actor and it wasnt until I told my wife who he was that she realized he was native to the Rowanda region. Sad story, but one that was done tastefully and with great emotion.

[Chris D]

Watched this today on Pay Per View. WOW. What a powerful movie. Like Schindler's List, not a movie that I want to own (or necessarily even ever see again) but it's something I think everybody should see, so that we don't turn a blind eye to the horrors humanity has committed. The subject of the movie really got to me, especially knowing that it was true. Same themes that we've seen the last 15 years and even longer, and still happen today--man killing his fellow man over race or religion. Just hate. And the rest of the world turning a blind eye, feigning inability to act. How many times did we see the Clinton Administration alone hide behind the UN, saying that they just wouldn't let us do anything to help those being slaughtered? Both Rwanda and Somalia are prime examples, completely bungling operations because "action isn't good for public opinion". And France has repeatedly demonstrated in countries over the last 30 years that they will place French business deals ahead of human atrocities. When they are making money by funding and supplying an armed conflict, they will refuse to intervene for peace in civil war or to stop genocide, or even move to block the rest of the world from stopping the atrocities. But when it serves the French appearance, or their financial bottom line, then they step in and help. I'm also amazed at the level of impotence the UN consistenly demonstrates when it comes to intervening in matters of genocide or armed conflict.

Stories like this of human history embarrass me that my country or culture was part of this tragedy, much less my species.

[spirited]

At the end of watching this movie I couldn't believe it was a true story. :E The character played by Don Cheadle sacrificed almost everything to save people he didn't even know. That's a true HERO. :amen:

[Nick M]

I didn't think it was on the level of Schindler's List (my favorite film), but it was certainly a :4: performance.

[Danbry39]

I was taken aback by how good the film was today when watching it. Cheadle was superb as was the rest of the cast. I love Nick Nolte, but almost wish he wasn't in it. Not anything against his acting in it, but my familiarity with him kept on reminding me that it was a film. One of my favorite films of the last year, though.

Very much enjoyed the making of documentary as well.

[Patt]

I agree with you Keith about Nick Nolte being a too familiar face. And as George said something like this just angers me.

Don't know what else to say.